MOORLAND IDYLLS. 



the competition in the end all the fiercer. 

 They are perpetually intriguing among 

 stones and crannies to insinuate their roots 

 here, and to get beforehand on their rivals 

 with their seedlings there ; they fight for 

 drops of water after summer showers, like 

 the victims shut up in the Black Hole of 

 Calcutta ; they spread their leaves close in 

 rosettes along the ground, so as to monopo- 

 lize space and kill down competition ; they 

 press upward toward the sun so as to catch 

 the first glance of the bountiful rays, and to 

 grasp before their neighbours at every float- 

 ing speck of carbonic acid. 



This is no poetic fancy. It is sober and 

 literal biological truth. The green fields 

 around us are one vast field of battle. And 

 you can realize it at once if you only think 

 what we mean by a flower-garden. We 

 want to induce peonies and hollyhocks and 

 geraniums and roses to smile around our 

 houses, and what do we do for them ? We 

 " make a bed," as we say ; in other words, 

 102 



